Home after a rough day at work, the first thing you do is reach for the Ben & Jerry’s – not just one scoop, but the entire pint. Or you meet your sister for dinner after months of being apart and decide to celebrate with a five-course meal at the ritziest restaurant in town. Are you an emotional eater? Find out if food has an emotional grip on you and learn 5 ways you can break free. Plus: What’s your diet downfall?

To some extent, we’re all emotional eaters. Food is the centerpiece of most social events and offers a unique way to relate to each other. Emotional eaters don’t just eat when they’re sad – they eat when they’re happy, too. But when eating habits are driven by feelings rather than hunger, our waistline – and our emotional health – suffers.

Emotional eating is a vicious cycle; food is used to deal with an emotion, but the food doesn’t answer your emotional needs, and then you’re left feeling guilty or shameful, adding to your emotional instability.

Ask yourself these four questions to find out if you could be an emotional eater:

1. Do you eat when you feel a strong emotion or are overwhelmed by many emotions, like anger, stress, anxiety, sadness and even happiness?

2. Do you mindlessly eat when you’re bored and have nothing to do?

3. As a child, did your parents tend to offer food as a comfort when you were hurt or reward you with food for your accomplishments?

4. Do you feel unsatisfied after eating something you craved or after eating too much of one food?

Emotional eating is often a learned behavior, which means it can also be unlearned. Here are five ways to let go of this habit:

1. Deal with the Deeper Issues

Many people struggle with overeating and weight issues because they aren’t dealing with something deeper. These issues may stem from childhood or from a current unhappy situation. Food can be used as a way to block an intense emotion you don’t want to feel.

Emotional eating is used as a coping strategy, but it doesn’t actually help you cope with anything in the end. Instead, identifying self-defeating, destructive attitudes and thoughts is essential to overcoming your emotional ties with food. Learning to recognize what these deep-rooted issues are may be the first and last step you have to take to nip emotional eating in the bud. If you suspect your emotional eating stems from a serious issue, talk to a professional.

2. Tell It to a Food Journal Pay attention to how you’re feelings when you’re overeating, and then write it down. A food journal that tracks your emotional triggers to food is an excellent tool to help you become more conscious of your eating habits. Journaling alone can be a cathartic experience, and a food journal is no different. You’ll be able to see in black and white why you overeat and how it makes you feel. And this is tangible information you can reflect on and learn from later on.

Start by recording everything you eat, including snacks. Write down how you were feeling at the very moment you took a bite, how you felt while you were eating and how you felt afterward. Record the triggers and types of food you most often turn to. Soon you’ll be able to recognize any patterns that you may be caught up in. If you’re overeating, you’ll be able to visualize just how many calories you’re actually consuming, which can be a shock to the system. By having visual, substantial proof of your eating habits, you’ll be able to develop conscious eating habits and a better way of dealing with your emotions.

3. Talk to YourselfBefore you take a bite out of that donut or reach for an entire bag of potato chips, ask yourself these important questions: Am I physically hungry? Will this food make my distressing emotion go away? How will I feel afterward?

These questions will really put the food you’re about to eat into perspective and force you to really confront why you’re eating in the first place. And by turning an automatic action into a conscious thought, you’ll turn the tables on your bad habits. Self-control is such an empowering feeling that you’ll want to feel it again and again.

4. Refocus Your ThoughtsWhen you’re overcome with emotion, just say no to the fridge. And say yes to something else that will equally distract you, and yet be constructive.

Finish that project you’ve been putting off. Or go for a nice walk. Activities like these will make you feel like you’ve accomplished something, rather than allowing you to wallow in your emotions. You can also choose something as simple as giving yourself a pedicure, taking a bubble bath or planting flowers in your garden. Use your food journal to list alternative activities you enjoy doing, and then do them!

5. Don’t DietRestrictive dieting does nothing for emotional eaters. When you ban the foods you crave so much, you’ll just want them even more and will end up eating them anyway. You’ll then feel guilty, disappointed and angry with yourself, which is the devastating cycle of emotional eating you’re working so hard to get out of.

Instead, try getting excited about foods that are nutritious. After all, if you turn to a bowl of fresh berries instead of a bowl of strawberry ice cream, your waistline will thank you. Experiment with different healthy recipes at home and you may discover a love of food that’s actually good for you!

What’s Your Diet Downfall?

Anyone can have a sweet tooth or a salty incisor. You already know if you're a junk food junkie or if you can't turn down a bowl of bread and butter - so what else is there to know about why your diet isn't working? It's time to figure out if you're unknowingly sabotaging your diet and adding inches to your waistline. Take this diet quiz to find out what you're doing wrong, and how you can do a dieting 180.